Improved liquid-fire shell or projectile



A. BERNEY.

Shell.

No. 36,934. l lntented Nov l]7 1862.

muelles.

"NITE Sfrnfrns ALFRED BERnEr, or JERSEY Grrr, NEW JERSEY.

IMPRovEo LIQUID-FIRE SHELL on PRoJEcnLi-z.

Specification thrilling pmt of Leiters Patent No. 36.@34,duted\l\ovemher 1l, 1862.

To n/ZZ whom, it may cor-cern:

Be it knownthat I, ALFRED BER-Nm', of Jersey City, in the State of NewJersey, have invented a new and Improved Composition for Filling Shellsor Irojectiles;V andI do hereby declare that the following .is a full,clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1- represents a centrallongitudinal section of a shellcontaining my improvement. Fig. 2 is asimilarsection of a spherical shell.

Figs. 3 and 4 .show still other modes of 'applying my invention to bothspherical and conical shells. Fig. 5 is-a cross-section on the line :v mof Figs. 1 and 2;

Similarletters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures.

My invention relate/sto that kind of project iles known asincendiary-shells, which are used for setting on fire forts, ships,buildings, or other structures; and it consists in a new and improved4composition for filling such shells, and in the combination of suchfilling with a hollow shot of such construction as hereinafterdescribed, so as to produce a new and eicient incendiary-shell for warpurposes.

To enable others skilled in the art to which my invention relates tomake and use the same, I will proceed to describe it.

' The materials which I use as my filling composition Vare thefollowing, and I employ them in about the proportions set forth, viz:For making, say, twelve pounds, Itake of benzole of good quality, fourpounds; crude petroleum, two pounds; coal-tar, two pounds; turpentine,two pounds; residuum from distilled petroleum, one pound; 4coal-oilfrom' coal-tar, one pound. These proportions may beva'ried and some ofthe materials may be omitted; but the-proportions I have given are thebest, and each of' the ingredients adds to the value of the compound.

barrels or tanks for use. 'hen to be applied in filling shells, theshell` is first filled with whatl is known as cotton waste,77 or somesimilar fibrous material, and the composition is then poured into theshell and a tight plug putin to prevent leakage. The use of the cottonwaste is to absorb the liquid and pre- After the materials arelthoroughly mixed, they may be kept in close vent its scattering too muchon Vthe explosion of rthe shell; Vand I would here remark that I havefound by experience that cotton waste applied in the manner set forth isthe best instrumentality -for filling shells of any description with anykind of infiammable 1iq` uid.

The above liquid is the composition which I prefer for filling all kinds'of fire-shells, (or rockets.) I do not confine myself strictly to theproportions given, since they maybe' slightly varied. A liquid whichwill answer very well may be made by. combining one or more heavy fluidsof high boiling-pointsuch as the residuum from petroleum or coal-tar,

ter-such as benzole, naphtha, the light oils from petroleum,'camphene,turpentine, &c.--

the use of the heavy fluid being to furnish a persistent burningmaterialgwhil the volatile matter is easily ignited by the powder beingignited. Any such fluid may be used in my complete fire-shellhereinafter described, and which is referred to in the second clause ofmy claim; but the fluid madeby the above formula, and which is referredto in the-first clause of my claim, is that which I prefer. l

There have been great diiculty and uncertainty in the use of shells ofthe kind to which viated the difficulty by making a strong tube for thepowder; This tube will not be broken either by the shock of firing theshell from the cannon, or on the striking or falling of the shell; infact, it will not burst until nearly the whole of thepowder has burnt,and thus the powder is not mixed with the fluid, butis permitted toburn, and exert its whole force in tearing to pieces and scattering vtheshell. Besides the powder being retained in the tube until its strongwalls give way, exerts all its force at once upon the outer shell, andso never fails to explode the latter, while such shells as were madeprior to this invention,

4the powder.

` having the powder-chamber of weak material, or too thin, and otherwisefaulty, broke by the shock of firing the gun, orby the striking of theshell, or was burst as soon as the upper portion of the powder wasfired; and so the powder, becoming mixed with the liquid, did notexplode the shell. This has proved heretofore to be-the fault, and nonehave been in actual service of the United States but mine, which haveproved to be serviceable, and are now in use. In constructing myinvention I use hollow shot, the making of which is well understood. InFigs. 1 and 2, A represents such hollow shot. C is the `strong tube tocontain the charge of powder. To make this tube, I take apiece ofwrought-iron boiler-flue of from one to two inches in diameter, (othersizes may be used, according to the strength of the shell,)

and eut it in suitable lengths, so as to reach the bottom of the shell,as shown in Figs. 1

and 2. The lower end is closed by welding in a plug of wrought-iron. Theother end is vformed to receive the fuse-plug, and to have a screw cuton the outside, as shown, (letter K,`)

to screw it in the shell, although, to save expense, the tube may bedriven in and rusted, but the screw is the best.' The upper portion ofthe screw or plug is cut ofi", as shown at e, so as to have a channel,which is filled with iron'ilings and sal-ammoniac to form a rustjoint.This plug -is to have a hole drilled in it and a screw cut in it, (seeH,) in which time or percussion fuses are Ito be inserted to igniteThesmall orifice or vent @which may be made one-tenth to one-quarter ofan inch in diameter, is for filling the tube with powder and forigniting it by means of the fuse. It is necessary that this orificeshould be made as small as possible on accountvof the great forcerequired to burst the tube; or the charge might blow out through thevent, and

thus' fail to rupture the tube.

B shows filling of liquid and cotton waste or similar substance.v l)shows filling-hole for liquid and waste, to put in the shell.

.form a tube of such leakage andt o prevent an enemy from opening theshells.'

In Figs. 3 and 4.1 have shown a modification of myinvention. The part H,for the fusevplug, is the same as in Figs. 1 and 2; but instead of thetube there is a chamber for the powder, made by a partition, C. Thispartition may be cast with the hollow shot, to be thinner than theoutside of the shell-about one-half as thick. I form the tube C ofboilerflue; but any sufficiently strong metal tube will answer mypurpose, the object being to strength as to meet the conditions alreadyreferred to, and for which I have found boilerfiiue to be a good andeficient material. v

I am aware that shells have been made with hollow shot, a central tubeof sheet metal, such as tin, zinc, &c., and a liquid; but such shellshave not proved serviceable, for the reasons given.

I am awarethat several of the ingredients employed .by me have beenbefore used for fire-balls, either by themselves or mixed with sulphur.I therefore do not claim to be the first to use such materials, but

What I do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The composition for filling shells, eomposed of the materials andinthe proportions substantially as set forth.

2. As a new manufacture, a fire-shell com-k posed of a hollow shot, A,short tube or chamber C, for the bursting-charge of powder, and

the filling B, all substantially and for the pur-4 pose set forth anddescribed.

` ALFRED l BERNE Y.

Vitn'esses: i

D. CozznNs, ANDREW J. Toni).

